MADISON, Wis. -- Sometimes, the evolutionary history of a species can be found in a fossil record. Other times, rocks and imprints must be swapped for DNA and genetic fingerprints.
Body
COLUMBIA, Mo. - According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Native American adolescents have higher rates of cigarette smoking than other racial or ethnic groups. New research from the University of Missouri on the smoking habits of Native American adolescents finds that family warmth and support, as well as participation in school activities, can play a role in tobacco prevention.
Hamilton, ON (May 9, 2016) - Some children and youth with high videogame addiction tendencies may be at risk of sleep deprivation and disorders associated with obesity and poor cardio-metabolic health, Hamilton researchers have found.
The study, published in the scientific journal PLOS One, examines the growing global gaming phenomenon and its impact on youth health.
DENTON (UNT), Texas - Plant science researchers at the University of North Texas have found potential new pathways for the creation of plant-based bioproducts. The research is outlined in a new article in the journal Nature Plants.
The UNT research team was working as part of the US Department of Energy's BioEnergy Science Center coordinated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Athens, Ga. - Iron, a critical element for living organisms, can be hard to hard to come by in open marine waters--except each summer, when atmospherically transported dust from north Africa's Sahara Desert provides pulses of biologically important nutrients, including iron, to the tropical marine waters of the Caribbean and southeastern U.S.
The human placenta is an organ unlike any other. During the course of nine months it is formed by the embryo, sustains life and then is shed.
"What that means," said Montserrat Anguera, an assistant professor in the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, "is it has to make very specialized cells, it has to form structures to support itself and the baby, it has to sense cues from the mom and from the environment and it has to do all of these things really, really fast."
A targeted antibiotic designed for treatment of staph infections caused fewer changes to the gut microbiome of mice than did common broad-spectrum antibiotics. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists led the study, which provides the first evidence that a pathogen-selective approach to antibiotic development minimizes disruption of the gut microbiome that leaves patients at a risk for a variety of metabolic and immune disorders. The experimental drug is being developed by the global pharmaceutical company Debiopharm International.
Acoustic warning signals emitted by tiger moths to deter bats - a behavior previously proven only in the laboratory - actually occur in nature and are used as a defense mechanism, according to new research from Wake Forest University.
The dromedary, the one-humped Arabian camel, plays an important role in the countries of North Africa. For thousands of years, the people of North Africa and Asia have used the animal for the transportation of people and goods. It was fundamental to the development of human societies in inhospitable environments. Dromedaries are the largest domesticated livestock species.
A constant companion with many unknowns
Believing in witchcraft is a salient feature of daily life in many parts of the world. In worst-case scenarios, such beliefs lead to murder, and they may also cause destruction of property or societal ostracism of the accused witches. The first large-scale economics study to explore beliefs in witchcraft, broadly defined as the use of supernatural techniques to harm others or acquire wealth, links such beliefs to the erosion of social capital.
BEER-SHEVA, Israel...May 10, 2016 - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers have issued new guidelines for treating perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs), based on a recent study. The guidelines are being released to coincide with National Maternal Depression Awareness Month that occurs this month.
Worldwide, about 35 million people are living with HIV. The World Health Organization and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS plan to use an approach called "treatment as prevention" to eliminate the global pandemic, which the WHO says will have occurred when only one person out of 1,000 becomes infected each year.
Now, a nearly two-decade analysis by researchers from UCLA and Denmark yields the first proof that the approach could work.
A nanoparticle commonly used in food, cosmetics, sunscreen and other products can have subtle effects on the activity of genes expressing enzymes that address oxidative stress inside two types of cells. While the titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles are considered non-toxic because they don't kill cells at low concentrations, these cellular effects could add to concerns about long-term exposure to the nanomaterial.
PHOENIX, Ariz. -- May 9, 2016 -- An international team of scientists, including those at the Translational Genomic Research Institute (TGen), have discovered new avenues of potential treatments for a rare and deadly cancer known as Adrenocortical Carcinoma, or ACC.
In a study published today in the scientific journal Cancer Cell, researchers conducted an extensive genomic profile of ACC, a cancer of the adrenal glands, which are located above the kidneys. Current treatment options for ACC have not changed in decades and are not curative.
A junk food diet can cause as much damage to the kidney as diabetes, according to a study published in Experimental Physiology.